One Indian held in Spain, Al Qaeda link not clear

New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS) Only one Indian has been arrested in Spain for forgery and shadowy links with international criminal networks, the government clarified here Wednesday. New Delhi has already sought consular access to the arrested Indian who has been identified as Jangeet Singh, official sources said here.

Singh and 12 others suspected of falsifying documents were arrested Tuesday and will be produced before a court in Madrid, the sources added, citing an informal communication from the Indian mission in Madrid.

The arrests took place between Barcelona and the eastern city of Valencia.

It is not yet clear whether the arrested persons, including Singh, had any connection with the terrorist group Al Qaeda.

News reports from Spain citing police sources had indicated that the arrested men had supplied forged passports for use by Al Qaeda operatives. However, the Spanish police has not officially mentioned any links of malefactors with Al Qaeda.

A statement from the Spanish police Tuesday said the detainees - 11 Pakistanis, a Nigerian and an Indian - were suspected of belonging to an international crime gang involved in passport forgery, drug trafficking and people-smuggling.

Investigations are on to find out whether they had supplied forged documents to international terror groups, a euphemism for Islamic extremist groups like the Al Qaeda.

Last month, six Pakistanis were held in Barcelona on suspicion of tax fraud and diverting funds to Islamic extremist groups. They were, however, freed days later for lack of evidence.

Since Madrid was bombed by suspected Al Qaeda terrorists over four years ago, Spain has been closely tracking the activities of Islamic radicals and Al Qaeda operatives who are said to have established a cell in that country.